A valve apparatus for simultaneously shutting off or opening two or more gas or fuel supplies.
Acetylene torches commonly operate on supplies of oxygen and acetylene or another combustible gas from two separate pressurized cylinders. Hoses connect the cylinders to the torch which usually has separate valves for regulating the flow of oxygen and acetylene. The proper mixture of oxygen and acetylene is set by adjusting these valves on the torch. However, when the operator wishes to extinguish the torch, it is necessary to close these valves to stop the flow of gases. The cylinders are provided with separate shut-off valves, but these are relatively inconvenient to use. Accordingly, each time the operator re-lights the torch, he must re-adjust the valves on the torch to obtain the correct mixture.
The normal procedure when starting to weld is to turn on the acetylene valve and then light the gas which produces a smoky yellow flame in the absence of sufficient oxygen. The operator then gradually opens the oxygen valve on the torch until he has the correct mixture of gases for the job he is doing. Both valves must be adjusted back and forth to get the exact flame required. Then, whenever the operator temporarily suspends welding to change his position or that of the work piece, he must either lay the burning torch down, or hold it with one hand while he adjusts the work piece with the other, or turn off both valves and lose the correct gas mix adjustment.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a convenient means for temporarily shutting off the flow of gases while maintaining the mixture adjustments on the torch valves. Preferably, this means should be connectable to conventional torches. The improvement could then be utilized with the many torches in use.
One solution to this problem would be to provide a shut-off valve for mounting on the torch which would simultaneously shut-off or open the oxygen and acetylene supplies. However, such a valve should be capable of instantly opening or closing with the greatest ease of convenience to the operator. This is necessary if the device is to gain widespread acceptance in view of the many times during a working day that the operator would utilize it. Additionally, the spacing between adjacent gas fittings on torches sometimes varies and the device should be capable of accommodating such variable spacing.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,851,263 to Roach is an earlier patent showing an acetylene torch with two valves activated by a single lever acting against two coil springs via valve stems. The trigger, however, controls an auxiliary burner.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,095,751 to Kirk discloses a welding torch having a lever which causes a bar to act against two similar valve stems and two coil springs.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,054,346 to Van Sittert discloses a multi-way valve which uses valve stems with enlarged heads compressed by springs.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,172,903 to Plumley discloses a cutting torch having a number of different inlet and outlet valves.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,080,570 to Weddendorf shows two fluids entering through two separate valves actuated by a single lever to form a mixture of fluids.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,223,762 to Bugatti discloses two spring biased valves actuated by a common lever compressing the springs by applying pressure to their valve stems.
In summary, while these earlier patents do show the general concept of a common lever used to depress valve stems against spring pressure to permit a flow of gases, they do not show a valve apparatus for simultaneously shutting off or opening two gas supplies which is adapted for use with existing acetylene torches, which can be mounted on the fittings of torches where the spacing between the torch fittings is variable, and which is sufficiently convenient in use to gain widespread approval by welders.